A corpora



c. H. SMITH.

PLANT FOR AND METHOD OF TREATING COAL.

APPLICATION HLED APR; 3, 1918. 1 1,414,223. Patented p 25, 1922.

C. H. SMITH. PLANT'FOR AND METHOD OF TREATING COAL. APPLICATION man mm. was.

1,414,223. Patented Apr. 25 192 FZH, 3 2 5HEETS-SHEET 2.

UNITED STATES CHARLES HOWARD SMITH, OF SHORT HILLS, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO INTERNA- PATENT OFFICE.

TIONAL COAL PRODUCTS CORPORATION, OF RICHMOND, VIRGINIA, A CORPORA- TION OF VIRGINIA.

PLANT FOR AND METHOD OF TREATING COAL.

Application filed April 3, 1918.

in. Plants for and Methods of Treating Goal,-

of which the following is a specification.

The invention relates to the treating of raw coal by subjecting thejsame to a partial distillation and to the preparing of the partially carbonized residue for subsequent use, v

for example, as a product to be burned when in loose powdered form or to be employed as a basis for raw briquets by binding to gether the solid particles, by temporary binding material, and by pressing JDtO thG 1 desiredraw briquets or even for otheruses.

The raw briquets thus made can be subsequently carbonized so as to form firm, coherent briquet, structures.

The invention particularly relates to the treating of coal having a high volatile content or moisture content, or both,'by heating it in a manner to drive off a part of the moisture and the volatile content thereof and sutliciently to cause cells or voids to result and cell structures to develop, during said heating and in a manner to leave a uniformly but partially distilled coal resldue, and by converting the resulting coal residue into finely divided formpreferably by pulverizing the coal residue when cold-by means of a crusher. The finely dividedor pulverized but uniformly and partially distilled coal residue is frequently. referred to as an intermediate product, since it is often used as an intermediate product in the manufacture of carbonized briquets, although it will be appreciated this intermediate product is adapted forother uses, as has been indicated above.

The invention in-this case is directed to the method for producing the intermediate product and to the plant or combination of apparatus or devices wherein or whereby the intermediateproduct can be produced.

In the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification there is illustrated a plant and certain apparatus, parts, mechanisms and devices which enter into the Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 25, 1922.

Serial No. 226,409. 7

In said drawings,

F lgure 1 is a vertical view illustrating in sequence and in longitudinal arrangement successive portions of the plant. This view illustrates the different mechanisms, parts, apparatus and devices through or along which the coal or coal residue passes from the time the coal is received from a. car, which is shown at the left hand side of the figure, up to the time the finely divided or pulverized coal residue isdelivered from the crusher, at the right hand side of the figure.

Figure 2 isa horizontal view illustrating in sequence and in longitudinal arrangement the successive portions ofthe plant shown in Figure 1. p In Figures land 2. there is illustrated a furnace retort having therein mirring and. conveying means in the form of,

parallel shafts provided with paddles thereupon arranged so-that the paddles on one shaft overlap'the paddles on the other or COIIIPELIllOILShflft. This furnace retort is frequently referre'dlto" as the initial'furnace retort because-in some plants where it is used it performs an initial heating.

Figure 3'is a vertical but longitudinally extending sectional view of the initial fun nace retort showing ashaft and paddles thereupon constituting a part of the mechanism for effecting a mixing and conveying ofthe charge within the retort. This fig ure is a view taken as on the plane indicated by the line 38 of Figure l, of Figure 4 or of Figure 5.

Figure 4 isa partial end view in horizontal section of the initial furnace retort showing end portions of companion shafts and paddles thereupon and which shafts and. paddles constitute a part of the mixing and conveying mechanism within the retort arranged so that the paddles on one shaft overlapthe paddles on the companion shaft.

means whereby coal is fed to the interior of the retort. This is a view taken on the plane indicated by the line -t4 of Figure l or of Figure 3 looking in the direction of the arrows.

' Figure 5 is a vertical transverse sectional view taken as on the plane indicated by the line 5-5 of Figure 2 or of Figure 3 look ing in the direction of the arrows. Figure 5 taken in conjunction With Figure 3 Shows a discharge conduit or passageway leading from the interior of the retort. In Figure 5 there is clearly shown a pair of cooperating rotary breakers followed by a rotary seal, the latter of which is constructed so that residue from the retort can be charged through the conduit or passageway without allowing the entrance of any substantial amount of air to the interior of the retort.

In both Figures 3 and 5 there is also shown a part of an enclosed conveying mechanism arranged to receive material passing from it to said conduit or passageway.

The description of the plant wherein the briquets are made from raw coal is as follows:

The plant is provided with a storage or storage bin 1 upon which the coal'frojm a car is emptied where it forms a pile or heap of coal, as 2. The coal from the pile 2 is conveyed in any suitable manner, as by means of an endless conveyor 3, to crusher 4- wherein' the coal is crushed or pulverized or, in other words, rendered in a granular or finely divided form. The crushed coal is then conveyed in any suitable manner as by endless conveyor, to wit, a bucket elevator, 5, from the crusher 4t to'a position where it is delivered into a storage bin or hopper G. This bin 6 may be referred to herein as a raw coal bin. It is the bin, as is apparent from what has preceded, wherein certain raw coal in line y divided form is received. From this bin 6 the finely divided'coal is conveyed in any suitable manner as by means of lorry cars 7, to a position wh re it can be delivered into desired hoppers, as S, constituting a part of an automatic feeding means 9 for the double paddle furna 'e retorts 10. i

A more or less detail construction ofthese furnace retorts 10 is shown herein in Figures 3, at and 5, and. a still further detail construction thereof will be found in my copending application Serial No. 217,761 filed February 18, 1918, entitled Furnace re-. torts, and the furnace retortsshown and described in said 'copending application can be employed to perform the function of the furnace retorts 10. It will be understood. however, that other forms of furnace retorts can be employed from that shown herein or from that shown in my co-pending apglicth tion Serial No. 217,76e.

These furnace retorts 10 have been so called because they each comprise a combined retort and furnace therefor. Each retort which is designated by 11 is substantially air-tight. The feeding means 9 is constructed so that the powdered coal to be treated in the retort is automatically fed into the retort as by means of a screw-conveyer 12 constructed so as to feed the coal as desired without permitting the entrance of air into the retort by the feeding opera-' tion. Piping 18 leads from the interior upper portion of each retort to a hydraulic main 14 that serves to receive and convey the vaporous, gaseous and liquid products which are distilled from coal within the retort. Each retort 11 is heated by means of its corresponding furnace 15 constructed so as to provide heatingflues 16 about the exterior of the retort, within which flues combustion takes place or along which flues products of combustion flow in a manner to supply the heat requisite for performing the desired distilling operation within the retort.

Each retort 11 is provided with mixing and conveying mechanism in the form of parallel shafts 17 having thereupon paddles 18 arranged so that as a shaft rotates the paddles on one shaft overlap paddles on the companion shaft. These paddles areshaped or in other words sloped'relati ve to the axis of the shaft in such a manner that they not only mix or agitate the material or charge within the retort but also progres sively convey the material along the retort from the charging end of the retort to the discharging end thereof. It will here be noted that each of the'retorts is what may be referred to as a horizontally extending retort, that the coal is charged intoth'e re'- t tort at the end'thereof, and that it is coir veyed by the mixing and conveying'means just described to a discharge opening, at the other end of the retort. The shafts 17 are sometimes referred to as companion shafts having overlapping paddles thereupon and these shafts are parallel with each other and extend longitudinally along the interior portion of the retort.

lYhcn the treated coal--01"properlyspeak ing the partially distilled residue-reaches the discharging end of the retort it passes through the discharge conduit or opening 19 sealed against the entrance of air, by the movable rotary seal 25, to an enclosed convoyiug means 20. In the discharge opening or conduit 19 there is located a pair of rotary members 21 and 22 having spaced rotating arms arranged so that the arms of one rotary member cooperate with the arms of the other rotary member. These rotary members serve two functions; (a) that of breaking up large chunks of residue that may be passing through the discharge opening or conduit 19 and (b) the forcing of the broken up residue or residual mass into pockets provided between arms 21 of the rotary seal This rotary seal 25 serves to seal the retort 11 which is an air-tight retort-against the entrance of air and also serves to convey the broken up residue to the enclosed conveying means '20. The furnaceretort is provided with suitable power operated mechanisms for operating the screw-feeding means 9 whereby the coal to llO ' retort.

be treated can be continuously and automatically fed to the interior of the retort, for driving the shafts carrying-the paddles that are within the retort proper whereby the shafts andpaddleswill be continuously rotated and will therefore eonstantlyagitate the coal within the retort and willprogressively feed the coal along the retort from the charging end of the retort to the discharging end thereof, and for operating the rotary members 21 and 22 and the rotary seal 25 associated therewith whereby I the rotary members will perform the function of breaking up large massesof coal residu leaving the retort and willconvey the broken residue to the rotary seal, and whereby the rotary seal will ensure a, passing of the'residue through the discharge ,openingiior conduit without; allowing the'entrance. of any'substantial amounto fair to the interior of the The power operating mechanisms just referred to may all be operated'from diflerent sources of power, that is there maybe one mechanism indicated asfby. 9 for i the screwfeeding means Q,.another indicated as byl'l' for. the paddle carrying shaftsfand. another indicatedas by 25? for the rotary members sis 21 and 22 and rotary seal 2.5as's'ociated there with. The hydraulic]inainl i has pref erably connected thereto an exhauster' .26 which can be relied upon to reducetheipressure within the retort and .to withdraw gases and vapors from. theretort as they are given olf'bythe'coal." TI

The. enclosed conveying means 20 conveys the coal residue discharged fromthe furnace which residue-is a partially but uniformly distilled residneand is in a heated. conditiontoa cooler 27. This cooler may be of any suitable,"constructiton to perform .its function. In theform. shown there is a tank or trough 3lpreferably enclosed at the topinto which the heated residue from the conveying means '20 is. discharged. In this tank ortrough there is a mixing and con- Veying means, as 28. in the form of rotating parallel shafts carrying paddles 29 and arranged so that the paddles of one shaft overlap the paddles of the companion slraft as the shafts. arerotated. The paddles are shaped and constructed so as. to convey the residue toward the discharge end of the cooler. ater is supplied to tlie tanl: for cooling purposes, as by valve-controlled pipe 30'.

The water-cooled residue as discharged from thecooler2'? passes into a conveyer 32 which elevates it to a position where it is delivered into a storage bin or hopper '33 which may be referred to asthe partially distilled residue holder. ,At the lower end of. this holder there is a hand-operated slide 34 which'can be moved to an open position when it is desired to let some of the watercooled residue pass on ten conveyer 35 serving to conduct the material of the residue to a crusher 36.

It will here be remarked that in the re tort 11 the powdered or crushed coal is subjected to a uniform and progressive heating under such a condition that the coal is uniformly distilled and there results from the initial distillation carried out in this retort uniformly and partially distilled residue due to the initial distillation in the retort wherein cellstructures have been formed or developed owing to the cementing of the grains of the powdered'or crushed coal into an agglomerate granular.structure and the volatilization of certain volatile matter contained therein. The partially distilled residue leaving the retort is, therefore, in the form of agglomerate pieces having cells or voids defined by cell structures formed by cemented together small particles. J'

This partially;distilled residue is his. condition mo're er less spongy in appearanceand when coldfis friable and readily crumbled.

The masses v or pieces of partially distilled coal or coal residue are broken up as just indicated in finely. divided or: pulverrzedjcon; ditlon with the consequent" result -that the several cell striiCtures are broken up. This I pulveriz'ing operation is readily effected be cause of the morejor less friable or frag le structure 'of thecooled residue which enters 'the crusher. The product from the crusher is therefore comp'osedof partially carbonized residues in finely dividediform" in which -residues the cell structure has be 'brokenjup;

Bearing; in mind the plantfas a whole, it

will be noted thatthere are continued series of incchanismg or apparatuses for condnctvided form, or intermediate product as it has been herein termed. Such aproduct can be made from many coals; it may be made, for example, from a coal having 36% volatile matter and fixed carbon by treatment according to the manner herein described.

' The'coal fro n the pileor heap 2 is passed to the crusher at where it is pulverized or rendered in finely divided form and thereafter 1t spassed to the storagebin or hopper 6 ,fromwhence the desired amount of crushed or pulverized coal canbe passed to the hopper 8 whe'refrom it'isco'nvey'ed orfed to the interior of the retorts 11. The coal or charge is subjected to an initial partial-distillation or an initial partial carbonizing operation within the retorts. During said initial distillation the heating of the coal within the retorts is carried for the desired period progressivcly upward until a maximum temperature of the coal, varying approximately from 825 degrees F. to 1200 degrees F. is reached, during which heating moisture and tar bearing productsare largely removed in vaporous and gaseous forms; in fact all products which volatilize or gasify at the temperatures enumerated during said period pass off from the retorts to the hydraulic main. During said heating the coal being treated or charged within the retort is constantly mixed or agitated by the mixing and conveying means 17 which comprises the parallel shaft with paddles thereupon and the charge within the retort is progressively conveyed toward the discharge opening or passageway 19 leading from the retort.

The apparatus is so timed and operated and the temperature is so regulated that when any particular portion of the coal within the retort reaches the discharge opening or passageway leading from the retort it will have reached the required condition; in other words, the coal being treated will not reach the discharge opening or passageway until the desired amount of volatile matter has been removed from that particular portion of the coal but the coal residue will reach the desired condition by the time it reachesthe discharge opening orpassageway.

The resulting residue or partially carbonized coal which leaves the retort is in a dry, soft condition and contains, for example, from five per cent (5%) to fourteen per cent (14%) of volatile matter, the latter being dependent to a considerable extent upon the particular type of residue desired. This residue is uniform in character as far as distillation is concerned and may be referred to as a partially but uniformly distilled residue. This resulting residue may be described as being dry, soft, and of a spongy nature, the latter because of the cellular structure developed during the heating in the retort 11. The coal residue passes from the retorts through the sealed openings in the manner heretofore described in connection with that portion of the apparatus relating to the description of the furnace retorts shown in Figures 3, 4 and 5.

The residue is conveyed through an enclosed conveyer which prevents any part thereof being consumed, as might result if the residue were exposed to the air, and the residue is caused to enter the cooler 27 where water can be supplied for cooling purposes, as through pipe 30, is desired. In order to facilitate the water contacting with all parts of the partially carbonized residue themixing and conveying means 28 can be relied upon to both mix the material and to convey the material along the cooler.

It will here be remarked that this uniformly distilled partially carbonized residue could be employed in any suitable manner. The portion of the apparatus previously described and particularly the furnace retort and its associated conveying and cooling mechanisms could be relied upon to produce this particular residue. The cooled residue is then passed to the storage bin or hopper 33 and subsequently to the crusher 36 where the residue can be crushed or pulverized, that is rendered in finely divided form. The residue, when it passes through crusher 36, readily crumbles or takes on a granular form and the product resulting from the crusher 36 shows small grains with portions, that formerly defined cells, on the surface of the grain; in other words,the'cell defining structure provides a part of the surface of the granular particles.

From what has preceded it will therefore be seen that if desired this particular granular productcan be received from the crusher 36 and said granular product can be employed for any one ofseveral uses. This granular product is the product sometimes employed in the manufacture of briquets. It is frequently referred to as an intermediate. product. This intermediate product is a solid material product, that is a solid carbonaceous material, and has certain characteristics which make is valuable 10 for many uses.

The improvements herein set forth are not limited to the precise construction and arrangement shown and described for they may be embodied in various forms and 10; modifications without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

What I claim is:

1. In a plant for treating coal, in combination, a heated retort having therein 1 0 means for mixing or agitating the material within the retort whereby a uniformly and partially distilled coal residue can be obtained, a crusher, means whereby the coal residue is passed and conveyed from the 5 retort to the crusher, and means for quenching the coal residue by the direct application thereto of water, as the residue passes on its way from the retort to the crusher which renders the moist or damp coal residue in finely divided or pulverized form.

2. A coal treating plant comprising and having in combination, a retort having therein mixing or agitating means, means for feeding coal to the interior of the retort, a crusher, and conveyer mechanism for conveying coal residue from the retort to the crusher, which conveyor mechanism has means for agitating or mixing the material in transit, and means for supplying a quenching fluid directly to the material crusher, means whereby the coal residue delivered from the retort is conveyed or passed to the crusher, and means whereby water is supplied directly to the coal residue prior to entering the crusher.

4. In combination, in a plant of the class described, an air-tight retort, means for supplying heat to the retort, means for mixing or agitating coal While within the retort whereby the coal will be progressively and uniformly heated throughout in a manner to leave a uniform partially distilled residue, an enclosed conveying means having a water-supplying means providing a quenching means, said retort having a sealed passageway through which partlally carbonlzed residue can pass on its way from the retort to said enclosed conveying means and which latter means is constructed so as to conduct the partially distilled residue to a position Where water from said quenching means can be employed to effect a direct cooling or quenching of the partially distilled coal, and a crusher arranged to receivethe moist directly cooled or quenched partially distilled coal. 7

5. In combination, in a plant of the class described, a plurality of furnace retorts each having means for feeding coal to the interior of the retort and means for mixing or agitatingthe charge within the retort, each retort also being provided with a sealed discharge passageway through which coal passes while in transit from the retort, a crusher, conveying means arranged to receive the coal from the dis' charge passageway and to convey the coal to the crusher, and means for supplying a quenching fluid and for causing said fluid to directly contact with the coal or coal residue thereby moistening and cooling the same prior to being crushed.

6. The method which comprises heating coal in a retort of a furnace retort in which retort there are companion shafts provided withv paddles arranged so that the paddles on one shaft overlap the paddles on a coinpanion shaft, rotating said shafts while the heating operation is being performed in a manner to mix or agitate the coal while 'in said retort and so as to produce .a uniform, partially distilled residue in which cells have been developed during said heating, finally cooling the resultlng residue by the direct application of water, and pulyerizing the dampened residue by crushing.

'7. The method which comprises heating coal in a manner to obtain a uniformly but partially distilled resultin residue wherein cellular structure has been developed dur ing'said heating operation, quenching the resulting residue and passing the damp or moist residue through a crusher in a manner to break up the developed cell structure.

8. The method which comprises heating coal for approximately one hour and at temperatures up to approximately 825 degrees F to 1200 degrees F. while simultaneously agitating or mixing'the coal in a manner to produce a uniformly but partially distilled residue in which residue a cell structure is developed as a result of said heating, quenching by the direct appli-' cation of a coolingfluid, and subsequently passing said resulting damp or moist residue through a crusher in a manner to render the residue in finely divided form.

This specification signed and witnessed this 2nd day of April, 1918.

CHARLES HOWARD SMITH.

Signed in the presence of- EDWARD C. BAILLY, EDWIN A. PACKARD. 

